Naturelog: 25th April

A few days birdwatching with Keith in Dorset. On our arrival in Weymouth we dropped our luggage off at the accommodation and headed out to the RSPB at Radipole Lake, a nature reserve won the lower reaches of the River Wey as it enters the town.

Walking along the entrance path we are greeted by a chorus of Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler and Cetti’s Warbler all in song, although they all contrive to stay out of sight in the reed-beds. A distant Marsh Harrier was seen and 3 Common Sandpipers were located on an island in the river.

Returning back to the reserve centre a Greenshank and 2 Black-tailed Godwits were feeding on the mud exposed by the receding tide.

Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)
Common Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna)
Gadwall (Anas strepera)
Mallard [sp] (Anas platyrhynchos)
Eurasian Teal [sp] (Anas crecca)
Common Pochard (Aythya ferina)
Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula)
Great Crested Grebe [sp] (Podiceps cristatus)
Grey Heron [sp] (Ardea cinerea)
Great Cormorant [sp] (Phalacrocorax carbo)
Western Marsh Harrier [sp] (Circus aeruginosus)
Common Moorhen [sp] (Gallinula chloropus)
Eurasian Coot [sp] (Fulica atra)
Black-tailed Godwit [sp] (Limosa limosa)
Common Greenshank (Tringa nebularia)
Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos)
Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)
Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus)
European Herring Gull [sp] (Larus argentatus)
Lesser Black-backed Gull [sp] (Larus fuscus)
Common Pigeon [sp] (Columba livia)
Common Wood Pigeon [sp] (Columba palumbus)
Carrion Crow [sp] (Corvus corone)
Great Tit [sp] (Parus major)
Eurasian Blue Tit [sp] (Cyanistes caeruleus)
Barn Swallow [sp] (Hirundo rustica)
Cetti’s Warbler [sp] (Cettia cetti)
Long-tailed Tit [sp] (Aegithalos caudatus)
Common Chiffchaff [sp] (Phylloscopus collybita)
Sedge Warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus)
Eurasian Reed Warbler [sp] (Acrocephalus scirpaceus)
Eurasian Blackcap [sp] (Sylvia atricapilla)
Eurasian Wren [sp] (Troglodytes troglodytes)
Common Blackbird [sp] (Turdus merula)
Dunnock [sp] (Prunella modularis)
European Goldfinch [sp] (Carduelis carduelis)